God Is Still In The Healing Business

I used to think that the word salvation meant that Jesus made the way for me to go to heaven and spend eternity with Him. As far as I was concerned, that was a real good deal already. Back then, it did not occur to me that God not only wants me to spend eternity with Him, He also wants me to reap the benefits of what He has done on the cross here in this life. I have been a part of quite a few churches, but only the last two have talked about the fact that God addresses all our being. This means our body, soul and spirit. When Jesus said "It is finished," He meant that the work that needed to be done for the body, soul and spirit is finished.

Let's look at salvation a bit closer. As we receive Jesus into our lives we have no problem accepting the fact that we will spend eternity with Him. I am sure that every believer is ready to accept salvation without a problem. We are ready to say: "Yes, I am saved. I received Jesus into my heart. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am saved. I know that I will go to heaven. In fact God's spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8:16). And we stop there.

The fact that we will spend eternity with Jesus is truth. However, it is only partial truth. It is partial truth because it addresses only two parts of our being. Those parts are our soul and spirit. It does not address the body -- yet God has created us in three parts. Those parts are body, soul and spirit.

Why would He not address the third part? It doesn't make sense that our body would not be included. Jesus tells us that He has come that we live our lives to the fullest (John 10:10). That living life to the fullest referred to the life we can live on this side of our existence. It is a given that we will be perfected when we live with Him in heaven. So John 10:10 is talking about life here on earth. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that the work of the cross covers all three areas of our being; that means that His work on Calvary includes the health of our bodies.

Let's look at some scriptures that talk about healing, because they will demonstrate that healing is a part of salvation. It has always been God's desire to restore our bodies so that we will then be fully functional to serve in His kingdom without the hindrances of sickness and disease.

Let's start by looking at what Jesus said when he gave us the commission. We read in Mark 16:15. "He said to them. 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues. They will pick up snakes with their hands and when they drink deadly poison it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people and they will get well."

Did you get this? what did Jesus say when he gave us the commission? He told us to preach the gospel, drive out demons and ......there it is... "place hands on sick people and they will get well." It does not only tell us to pray for the sick, it also says that they will get healed. This statement alone should address any questions as to whether or not it is God's will to heal the sick.

Convinced yet? ok, let's look at more scriptures. This one is in Isaiah 53:4-5. We read: "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgression, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed."

It is obvious that the main part of verse 5 talks about Jesus dieing for our transgression so that we can then be restored back to God. Let's look a bit closer at verse 4. It clearly states that He took up our infirmities (that is sickness and diseases) and carried our sorrow (that is all emotional conditions). Then, as we continue reading verse 5, we find that "by His wounds we are healed." Why do you think God included that in this scripture? I believe that He included it because healing is a part of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. It is included in the sacrifice Jesus has made when He said "It is finished."

Kingdom Work

Jesus gave us an example of what kingdom work is supposed to look like. As we are reading His story, we can't miss noticing that healing was a part of that kingdom work. For instance, we read in Luke 9:11, "But the crowds learned about it and followed Him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing."

Do you notice how He healed the people brought to Him right along with Him sharing about the kingdom? Why would He do that? I believe that healing the sick was a practical demonstration and an example of what the kingdom of God is about. First, Jesus talked about the kingdom. Then He showed the people what it looked like when His kingdom was in operation. Hebrews 2:4 tells us, "God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will"

So what did God testify to then? Let's go back a few lines to Hebrews 2:2. It says, "For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him."

It is obvious that He testified to the message of salvation pointing to the truth of the message by manifesting signs, miracles and wonders, etc. It doesn't explicitly say that healing was included. But I think it is reasonable to conclude that when we see miracles, signs and wonders, the healing of the sick is included in that. We can read many examples of this throughout the book of Acts where the disciples healed the sick together with performing many signs, miracles and wonders.

Jesus told us in John 14:12 that we will do the same things He did. In fact He said that we will be doing even greater things than He did because He went to the Father. In other words, God empowers us to do His kingdom work. He anoints us for the task He has given us to do. Jesus called the twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out demons and to heal every disease and sickness (Matthew 10:1). Likewise, He also calls us to do the same kingdom work. That is why we know healing the sick is included in the commission. And Jesus did not limit the commission to only His twelve disciples; He commissioned all believers. He has given us the same authority and expects us to go and be busy doing His kingdom work.

Some people believe that God does not heal the sick anymore. They are basically saying that God has changed. They acknowledge that He healed in the Old Testament and also that He healed in the New Testament through Jesus and His apostles. However, they don't acknowledge that God is still healing today in our generation. This is in direct contradiction to Hebrews 13:8. The fact remains that God's kingdom has not changed. God has not changed. God will never change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And since God healed in the past, that means that He desires to heal today as well. God blessed then, and He wants to bless now. His blessings contained not only prosperity but also healing.